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The Collected Works of Paddy Chayefsky: The Stage Plays
The Collected Works of Paddy The Stage Plays
450 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1994
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137 people want to read
About the author
Paddy Chayefsky
75 books70 followersSidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky , was an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for Best Screenplay.
He was considered one of the most renowned dramatists of the so-called Golden Age of Television. His intimate, realistic scripts provided a naturalistic style of television drama for the 1950s, and he was regarded as the central figure in the "kitchen sink realism" movement of American television.
Following his critically acclaimed teleplays, Chayefsky continued to succeed as a playwright and novelist. As a screenwriter, he received three Academy Awards for Marty (1955), The Hospital (1971) and Network (1976). Marty was based on his own television drama about a relationship between two lonely people finding love. Network was his scathing satire of the television industry and The Hospital was considered satiric.
Chayefsky's early stories were notable for their dialogue, their depiction of second-generation Americans and their sentiment and humor. They were frequently influenced by the author's childhood in the Bronx. The protagonists were generally middle-class tradesmen struggling with personal problems: loneliness, pressures to conform or their own emotions.
Chayefsky died in New York City of cancer in August 1981 at the age of 58.
He was considered one of the most renowned dramatists of the so-called Golden Age of Television. His intimate, realistic scripts provided a naturalistic style of television drama for the 1950s, and he was regarded as the central figure in the "kitchen sink realism" movement of American television.
Following his critically acclaimed teleplays, Chayefsky continued to succeed as a playwright and novelist. As a screenwriter, he received three Academy Awards for Marty (1955), The Hospital (1971) and Network (1976). Marty was based on his own television drama about a relationship between two lonely people finding love. Network was his scathing satire of the television industry and The Hospital was considered satiric.
Chayefsky's early stories were notable for their dialogue, their depiction of second-generation Americans and their sentiment and humor. They were frequently influenced by the author's childhood in the Bronx. The protagonists were generally middle-class tradesmen struggling with personal problems: loneliness, pressures to conform or their own emotions.
Chayefsky died in New York City of cancer in August 1981 at the age of 58.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 26, 2022
CHRISTINE: I've known a few junkies in my time. I've even known one or two who kicked it. But this is the first junkie I've known who kicked it for tax purposes. Don't you think that's strange?
LANDAU: Well, if you need a reason for going off dope, a tax saving is as good as any.
Title: The Collected Works of Paddy Chayefsky - The Stage Plays
Author: Paddy Chayefsky
Year: 2000
Genre: Fiction - Script collection, drama
Page count: 450 pages
Date(s) read: 11/18/22-11/23/22
Reading journal entry #310 in 2022
December 15, 2024
Would have been five but "The Passion of Joseph D." definitely earned its short run in the theaters...
July 31, 2013
This collection of plays is one of the best things I’ve ever read. I’d seen most of Paddy Chayefsky’s movies, and craved more. These plays have now helped satiate that craving as well as fuel my fandom of Chayefsky’s work. They are each so different, yet carry familiar themes and values between them.
Middle of the Night – Very much in line with Marty’s humane, romantic, naturalistic style. Easy to visualize the characters. I would have loved to have seen Edward G. Robinson’s performance of this. I don’t think he ever got to play the romantic lead in a movie, but it seems a fitting role. There’s a thrilling sequence when he arrives at the girl’s house and it throws her family into a frenzy.
The Tenth Man – My favorite play in the collection. Brilliant balance of humor, and drama, and ideas. I love the different religious opinions among the characters. I love that at different points in the play those dynamics will shift the audience’s opinions of what is happening to the girl. I love that even at the end, different people can walk away with different opinions if the girl was possessed by a demon or not.
Gideon – I wasn’t too familiar with the bible story of Gideon. Like The Tenth Man I think the audience’s religious opinions will color their perception of how much of a comedy this play is or isn’t. To some this could be seen as a literal drama. Chayefsky hasn’t really deviated much from the biblical narrative, but in the way he has fleshed it out, I think has produced a riotous comedy. I read one review online that said the scenes of Gideon’s devotion to the Angel are very moving. To me they read as ridiculously homoerotic. Based on Chayefsky’s other works, I doubt he would ever do a serious biblical play. I’m pretty sure the impressions I got from it were intentional.
The Passion of Josef D. – Too bad this seemed to have bombed at the theater. Again I would have loved to have seen Peter Falk’s take on the Stalin role. I started to see the seeds of Network and Hospital sprouting in this. It’s the most expressionistic play in the collection. I think the last two scenes are among the most profound of all his plays. It’s made me want to read more about Stalin to see how accurate Chayefsky’s portrayal is.
The Latent Heterosexual – Like a mix of Mel Brook’s The Producers and Network. Really great. A hiliarous romp, with a shock of pathos and sadness toward the end. Zero Mostel’s character is one step away from Howard Beale. One of his character’s critical lines actually reappears in Network during the boardroom sequence with Ned Beatty, “I have seen the face of god…” Certainly intentional on the author’s part.
This collection deserves to be read and celebrated, and republished without such a tacky cover.
Middle of the Night – Very much in line with Marty’s humane, romantic, naturalistic style. Easy to visualize the characters. I would have loved to have seen Edward G. Robinson’s performance of this. I don’t think he ever got to play the romantic lead in a movie, but it seems a fitting role. There’s a thrilling sequence when he arrives at the girl’s house and it throws her family into a frenzy.
The Tenth Man – My favorite play in the collection. Brilliant balance of humor, and drama, and ideas. I love the different religious opinions among the characters. I love that at different points in the play those dynamics will shift the audience’s opinions of what is happening to the girl. I love that even at the end, different people can walk away with different opinions if the girl was possessed by a demon or not.
Gideon – I wasn’t too familiar with the bible story of Gideon. Like The Tenth Man I think the audience’s religious opinions will color their perception of how much of a comedy this play is or isn’t. To some this could be seen as a literal drama. Chayefsky hasn’t really deviated much from the biblical narrative, but in the way he has fleshed it out, I think has produced a riotous comedy. I read one review online that said the scenes of Gideon’s devotion to the Angel are very moving. To me they read as ridiculously homoerotic. Based on Chayefsky’s other works, I doubt he would ever do a serious biblical play. I’m pretty sure the impressions I got from it were intentional.
The Passion of Josef D. – Too bad this seemed to have bombed at the theater. Again I would have loved to have seen Peter Falk’s take on the Stalin role. I started to see the seeds of Network and Hospital sprouting in this. It’s the most expressionistic play in the collection. I think the last two scenes are among the most profound of all his plays. It’s made me want to read more about Stalin to see how accurate Chayefsky’s portrayal is.
The Latent Heterosexual – Like a mix of Mel Brook’s The Producers and Network. Really great. A hiliarous romp, with a shock of pathos and sadness toward the end. Zero Mostel’s character is one step away from Howard Beale. One of his character’s critical lines actually reappears in Network during the boardroom sequence with Ned Beatty, “I have seen the face of god…” Certainly intentional on the author’s part.
This collection deserves to be read and celebrated, and republished without such a tacky cover.
February 17, 2014
Paddy Chayefsky writes a play like nobody's business. This collection is an absolute triumph, blending his own unique form of agnosticism, satire, and epic humanism into these simultaneously funny, sad, and brilliant plays.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews